


Stranger Perspective

by dramaticinsanity



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Revells19 - Relationship, Witness Protection AU, past abusive relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 14:38:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17003553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dramaticinsanity/pseuds/dramaticinsanity
Summary: He has to face the inevitable.Reverb couldn't avoid his neighbor forever.





	Stranger Perspective

Reverb squints in the obnoxious sunlight. 

He couldn’t believe this would be his life now, in witness protection. He should be thankful to still have his life. He’s just bitter. He’s never had anything to be thankful for that wasn’t taken from him in the next breath.

His house is modest, with a small porch shadowed by the roof. He doesn’t care to put any furniture on it, but a small, sad plant hangs above the handrail. The porch next door features a table and chairs, a grill, and a plethora of vibrant flowers.

It’s disgusting. Even more disturbing is the bright rosy-cheeked man he’s until now only observed from his window. Reverb doesn’t quite buy that he’s real, he’s like an android specifically programmed to pierce Reverb’s cloud of rancor. It makes him want to lash out in a violent storm.

He stands at the edge of the sidewalk that splits his yard, finally forced to take the trash out that was piling up. He has been avoiding human contact. After watching the people he was attached to perish at the hands of the man who claimed to love him, he’s not eager for new connections.

His neighbor’s small mixed breed dog sprints down the fenced yard and starts to excitedly bark at him. He glares at it and drops the trash in the can. He turns on his heel back toward the porch.

“Hey!”

No. Damn it. Go away.

“Hi.” Reverb contemplates throwing the trash can lid at his neighbor’s blithe expression and dashing to his door so he can hide again. He stiffly walks over instead. He has to face the inevitable. Reverb couldn't avoid his neighbor forever. Maybe his visage will be more frightening from a shorter distance.

“Sorry about Daisy, she just loves people!” 

The mutt yelps at him, her little legs surging as she all but bounces back and forth along the fence-line. His bland expression and scowl have no effect. HR smiles fondly at her. Reverb wants to wipe it off his face. No one has ever smiled at him like that. But an excitable fleabag earns it? 

“If she loved me she’d shut the hell up,” Reverb responds. He could lie that it was a slip if pressed. It wasn’t.

“Aw. Not a dog person huh?”

Reverb shrugs. Lively things shrivel away from him if he doesn’t destroy them first. Cheerful people tend to be the quickest to judge him. 

Reverb takes the chance to examine his neighbor up close. He’s tall. But not like a spindly giraffe, more like a retired racehorse sort of vibe. He’s probably never done anything backbreaking in his life, but Reverb has seen him run. His muscles are usually hidden under baggy sweats or sweaters. 

As of now, this lazy Sunday, he wears a tight black T-shirt that has to be murder in the heat and a pair of white boxers with hearts all over them. “Are boxers fashionable here as outdoor wear or is it just you?” 

HR laughs unperturbed and doesn’t answer. Reverb senses that it won’t be a simple matter to goad him. He’s utterly sickening but oddly charming. Reverb can see his biceps and abs, and he’s admittedly more than slightly attracted. He stares longer than necessary to test the reaction. 

HR follows his gaze. “Being a writer doesn’t mean I have to be a homebody! There’s a great trail near by if you’re interested.”

A writer? Reverb narrows his eyes. What does he write? Poems? Sappy, prose-filled fanfiction?

“I think I’ll pass.”

HR nods and leans on the fence. “It’s not for everyone. Though it has other merits - lots of foliage for ah, disguising certain co-operative activities.”

HR’s gaze roves over Reverb’s crotch and snaps back to his eyes. Possibly Reverb has underestimated him. Upbeat and cautious aren’t mutually exclusive. However, his placid smile seems eternally stuck there. 

He smiles, laughs too easy. Either someone really hurt him and it’s his way of coping, or he’s never faced difficulty in his entire life. And it has to have been a fairly high number so far, going by the laugh lines on his eyes and mouth.

His eyes. They’re a brighter shade of blue than Reverb could discern from the other side of his window. Bright colors aren’t usually his thing, but they’re beautiful.  

His neighbor steps through his gate. Oh no. Reverb slowly backs away, but he ends up tripping over the garbage. He holds out a hand. Reverb ignores it and reclaims his footing in a smooth movement. His neighbor grins, unaffected, and sticks out his hand for a shake.

He hates himself the way he flinches. HR’s eyebrows knit in concern. He glances at his own hand as though it’s a bomb ready to go off.

“Are you OK?”

Reverb reluctantly takes it. “I’m - I’ve recently gained freedom from my abusive spouse -”

_Hunter Zolomon_. If he ever sees his face again, Reverb would gladly strangle him with his bare hands. Possessive, cheating asshole lost his shit when Reverb got into a fistfight with his mistress. He should have seen it coming, Zolomon snapping and stabbing him in the chest. 

“Say no more! I apologize, I’ll be more careful in the future.” 

Reverb rubs his chest at the memory onslaught. He missed Reverb’s heart by a few centimeters. He’s lucky he had earlier invited his brother over for a drink, as he called the ambulance. Any later, and he might’ve been toast.

When the police told him that Zolomon had been charged for several counts of murder, he wasn’t surprised. He didn’t struggle, didn’t debate. He was Tired. He was ready to escape.

Reverb sniffs with displeasure. “Don’t do that. Act like… like normal. My reactions are my problem alone.” 

“If that’s want you want. But I feel I should take some responsibility to respect your space if you need it.” HR strokes Reverb’s skin with his thumb. He supposes it’s meant to be a reassuring gesture. 

Due to that, he realizes he’s still holding HR’s hand. Not only that, but he’s squeezing his fingers so tight, it’s probably hurting him. He quickly shoves them in his pockets. Meanwhile, his dog crashes through the loose gate and charges him. HR grabs her in what appears to be a practiced move.

Reverb doesn’t embarrass easily. He’s simmering inside at his show of weakness.  HR displays no sign of being unsettled. He scratches his dog under the chin to stop her squirming.

“Name is Harrison Wells by the way, but you can call me HR. Sumptuous day isn’t it? Nice to meet you.”

“I guess. I’m… Reverb,” he deadpans. 

“Reverb? Well that’s an interesting name.”

“It’s not my birth name,” Reverb responds. 

He was explicitly instructed not to parade that fact around. He’s never been one for rules. 

Everyone who knew him by this name is dead now, so he was able to wiggle out of a different alias. He found out his old gang, the only people who used to call him Reverb, were killed by Zolomon. They had been setup to appear as accidents or were just shrouded in total mystery. As a means of control, no doubt. So his  _precious Francisco_  would have nowhere to go. His parents were estranged, and his brother, well. They weren’t suited to sharing space. 

He doesn’t elaborate, but HR seems to just roll with it. 

“That’s cool. Maybe you could give Daisy a pat? I promise she’ll settle down if you only pet her a little. She’s a sucker for attention.”

Reverb’s nostrils flare. He looks at the dog still tucked under HR’s arm, her tail wagging and tongue hanging out. He awkwardly strokes her on the head. 

“So what do you do?”

Reverb wants to run for miles from this small talk. It’s exhausting.

“Nothing. I don’t know yet. I used to run a criminal enterprise,” Reverb admits tersely, gazing at a point over HR’s shoulder. 

“Oh. I’d love to hear the details someday. It could be useful for my next novel. I released the final in a trilogy almost two years ago… and now I’m working on something entirely different!”

Nothing seems to faze this guy. 

“So you’re actually a published author. Grand. I’m almost impressed.” 

He even ignores the jab. 

“It’s the best.” HR’s arm twitches. Reverb tenses. He seems to think better of probably trying to touch him in a friendly manner. “Would you mind if I base a character on you?”

“I don’t care. But you barely know me.”

“Hopefully that can change,” HR winks and says, “in due time.”

“Maybe.” Reverb’s stomach flips. “If you can play your cards right. But take note, I don’t play fair.”

“You’ll find neither do I,” HR replies mild and affable, but Reverb can sense a weight behind his words. “I’m an infamous hustler, I’ve been kicked out of a dozen bars.”

Despite himself, Reverb chuckles. “Is that so? Perhaps we have more in common than I thought.”


End file.
